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Mni LansinaluraA 



A 

DISSERTATION 

ON THE 

MINERAL WATERS OF SARATOGA. 

INCLUDING AN ACCOUNT OF THE 

WATERS OF BALLSTON. 

Second Edition ...Enlarged. 

M@«— 

By VALENTINE SEAMAN, M. D. 
One of the Surgeons of the Nciv-Yorh HofpitaL 

" What dire neceflities on every hand, 
" Our art, our ftrength, our fortitude require ! 
" Of foes inteftine what a numerous band 
" Againft this little throb of life confpire ! 
" Yet Science can elude their fatal ire 
" Awhile, and cum alid> Heath's Wel'd dart, 
" Soothe the fharp pang, allay the fever's fire, 
" And brace the nerves once more, and cheer the heart; 
■ ; And yet a few foft nights and balmy days impart." 



NEW- YORK: 

Printed and Sold by Collins & Perkins, No. 189 Pearl-ftrca - 

1809. 







Diflria of New-York, /■. 



B< 



)E IT REMEMBERED that on the fixth 
day of July, in the thirty-fourth year of the 
Independence of the United States of Ame- 
rica, Collins and Perkins of the faid Diftridt, 
(L. S.) have depofited in this office the title of a book, 
the right whereof they claim as proprietors, 
in the words following, to wit : " A Dif- 
fertation on the Mineral Waters of Saratoga* 
Including an account of the Waters of Ballflon. 
Second Edition.....Enlarged. By Valentine Seaman, J\T. D, OIW 
of the Surgeons of the New-York Hofpital. 
" What dire neceflities on every hand 
u Our art, our ftrength, our fortitude require ! 
" .Of foes inteftine what a numerous band 
" Againft this little throb of life confpire ! 
" Yet Science can elude their fatal ire 
<{ Awhile, and turn aiide death's level'd dart, 
" Soothe the fharp pang, allay the fever's fire, 
" And brace the nerves once more, and cheer the heart, 
;c And yet a few foft nights and balmy days impart." 

IN CONFORMITY to the Adfc of the Congrefs m the 
United States, entitled, " An A6t for the Encouragement of 
Learning, by fecuring the Copies of Maps, Charts, and 
Books, to the Auihura and Proprietors of fuch Copies, du- 
ring the times therein mentioned ;" and alfo an Aci, enti- 
tled, " An Act fupplementary to an Act, entitled, An Acl 
for the Encouragement of Learning, by fecuring the Copies 
of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the Authors and Proprie- 
tors of fuch Copies, during the times therein mentioned, and 
extending the Benefits thereof to the Arts of Defigning, En- 
graving, and Etching Hiftorical and other Prints." 

CHARLES CLINTON, 
Clerk of the Difri® of New-York. 



JOHN COAKLEY LETTSOM, 
M. & L. L. D. 8cc. 



IT is hoped that one whofe life has 
been fo confpicuoufly devoted to 
the diffufion of ufefol knowledge, 
in the promotion of human happi- 
nefs, and whofe beneficent exertions, 
unlimited by the boundaries of his 
own country, have been fo fenfibly 
extended to this, will not view with 
indifference, an attempt to invefti- 
gate the real nature of the moft ce- 
lebrated of its medicinal w 7 aters. 
Indeed the lively intereft he has ma- 
nifefted, as the naturalijf s compani- 



IV 

on> in refearches of this kind, is an 
almofl fure pledge of his approba- 
tion. 

Under thefe impreffions, the fol- 
lowing pages are, with due conside- 
ration, refpedtfully infcribed, by 
his friend, 

THE AUTHOR, 
New-Tort 9 6 Mo. 1809. 



INTRODUCTION. 



IT was a remark of the celebrated 
Bergman, that " In all ages good 
Phyficians, defirous of eftablifhing 
the falutary art, on a firm founda- 
tion, have confidered it incumbent 
on them, to fubmit to chemical ana- 
lysis, fuch waters as were famous 
for the cure of any difeafe." And 
indeed it is with juftice expected 
of every phyfician, that at leaft he 
will enquire into the virtues of fuch 
fubitances, as £hall offer themfelves 
to his obfervation, fiippofed to pof- 
fefs adtive medicinal qualities : for 
" The Lord hath created medicines 

A 2 



out of the earth, and he that is wife 
will not abhor them." And as there 
ftill remain difeafes, which raife up 
their reproachful heads, in obflinate 
defiance of our art, it is more efpe- 
cially our duty to fearch out means 
for their deftrudlion : for it is not 
confident with our ideas of the 
goodness of the Deity, to fuppofe 
that he would have permitted the 
favourites of his creation to be af- 
flicfled with difeafes, without hav- 
ing formed remedies for their re- 
lief: but for them, as for relief from 
fpiritual evils, we muji feek, and we 
Jhall JincL 

What a glorious era will the pre- 
fent time exhibit in the hiftory of 
medicine ; for befide the many 
other late improvements in the 



Vll 

practice of phyflck, the fingle eftab- 
lifhment of Vaccination alone, has 
afforded more unblemifhed comfort 
to fuffering humanity, than any 
other difcovery ever made by the 
profeffion. For before that period, 
even where Inoculation for the 
Small Pox was, not only tolerated, 
but encouraged, as for inftance in 
this city, more than one tenth part 
of all the perfons that died, funk 
under the immediate effects of that 
mod loathfome of human mala- 
dies*. What a flimulus this is to 



* By a register kept by the Sexton super- 
intending the large cemetery in Broadway, it 
appears that during the fifteen years immedi- 
ately preceding the introduction of Vaccina- 
tion into New- York, of 5756 persons that were 
interred in that ground, 610 died with the 
Small Pox. 



via 

a perfeverance in our refearches ; — 
for who, twenty years ago, could 
have believed that the fufceptibility 
to Small Pox, which feemed an im- 
movable intailment upon human 
life, would have been fo eafily cor- 
rected. 

American phyficians, in particu- 
lar, from their being fituated in a 
country, with refpecl to medical re- 
fearches, almoft unexplored, fliould 
confider it doubly incumbent on 
them, to attend to its productions ; 
for befides the Ipecacuanha, the 
Snake Root, the Jalap, and many 
other ufeful remedies, America has 
alfo already furnifhed a Bark which 
has removed the fatality of that dif- 
eafe which in lefs than forty years 
deprived Britain of two of its mo- 



IX 

narchs*. And " Who knows but 
that at the foot of the Allegany 
Mountains, there blooms a flower 
that is an infallible cure for the e- 
pilepfy ? Perhaps on the Mononga- 
hela, or the Potomack, there may 
grow a root, that fhall fupply, by 
its tonic power, the invigorating 
effects of the favage or military life, 
in the cure of confumptions.f" — 
And why may there not fpring up 
a water, in fome neglected valley, 
whofe folvent quality may melt 
down the torturing ftone, or whofe 
penetrating influence may wafh a- 

* The intermittent fever, which is now con- 
sidered a trivial complaint, was arranged in 
the class of incurable diseases, till the discove- 
ry of the Peruvian Bark. James the First, and 
Oliver Cromwell, both died of this complaint. 

t Dr. Rush's concluding lecture. 



Xll 

when he confiders, that in this 
work I have adled in the dangerous 
and toilfome capacity of a pioneer, 
opening a way to the analyfis of 
thefe waters, whereby others may 
follow on, perhaps with more fuc- 
cefs, at leaft with lefs difficulty*. 

It has been my intention to ren- 
der this treatife as generally ufeful 
as poflible. I have, therefore, in 
addition to the prefent accurate 
terms of the new nomenclature, 
given the more common names of 
fuch fubftances as have occurred in 

* No one has heretofore attempted to ana- 
lyse these waters : all that has been done was 
a mere enquiry into the air discharged from 
them : see Dr. Mitchill's experiments, related 
in the American Museum, Vol. 4. This is 
the first attempt made to search into their real 
substance, to ascertain the ingredients of their 
composition. 



xai 

the courfe of the work : and have 
alfo, in other refpedls, employed as 
familiar a language as the nature of 
the fubjedl would admit of; and as 
in compoiitions of this kind, beau- 
ty of ftile is of lefs confequence 
than perfpicuity of expreffion, I 
doubt not but that the reader will 
excufe me, if he finds fentences 
which might have been more ele- 
gantly expreffed. 

Whether water, of itfelf confider- 
ed, is a fimple elementary fubftance, 
according to the opinion of the an- 
cients, or a compound, as believed 
by moft of the moderns (though 
perhaps well defer ving of attention) 
is not the bufinefs of this difTerta- 
tion to determine ; its views being 
confined, merely to difcover the na- 

B 



XIV 

ture of fueh mineral fubftances as 
are often diflblved in it, and to 
which many waters owe their par- 
ticular medicinal virtues. 

Such mineral waters have been 
noticed as far back as the time of 
Hippocrates. Pliny mentions certain 
of them, as poflefling medicinal 
properties ; but we do not find any 
account of a method to detedl their 
compolition, till about the middle 
of the feventeenth century, when 
Boyle fir ft obferved, that the infu- 
fion of vegetable blues, was an ac- 
curate teft for difcovering the pre- 
fence of uncombined acids or alka- 
lies, by becoming red with the for- 
mer, and green with the latter. He 
afterwards found out many other 
fubftances for the more full exami- 
nation of waters. 



XV 

During the time that Boyle was 
employed in thefe refearches, Duclos 
was bufy in the analyfis of the wa- 
ters of France, and made feveral 
improvements, by the addition of 
galls, and the tin&ure of turnfol, 
to our flock of reagents. Hierne, 
Valerius^ Boulduc^ and many other 
eminent chemifts, continued to ren- 
der this branch of fcience more per- 

f e a. 

In the beginning of the prefent 
century, Hoffman^ followed by 
Springsfeld and Venel, paid particu- 
lar attention to what they called the 
mineral fpirit of waters, and which 
fince, by Dr. Prieflly, has been pro- 
ved to be the carbonic acid gas, or 
fixed air, as he termed it. 

The mode of analyfing waters has 



XVI 



been continually improving, fince 
the firft experiments of Boyle , till at 
length the celebrated Bergman has 
given the finifliing flroke of its pre- 
fent perfection. 

In examining thefe waters, I have 
proceeded firft by reagents, to afcer- 
tain the different ingredients in 
their compofition ; for notwith- 
flanding fome authors confider thefe 
as mere amufing experiments, yet I 
rather fuppofe them very ufeful for 
that purpofe, particularly when em- 
ployed in the extenfive way that 
has been done in this enquiry ; and 
I fancy every intelligent reader will 
agree with me, upon a candid pe- 
rufal of them. It muft be acknow- 
ledged that we are thereby only en- 
abled to difcover the different in- 



XV11 

gredients of mineral waters, but 
not the proportion of each. It be- 
came, therefore, neceffary to apply 
to diftillation, to obtain the propor- 
tions of their aerial, and to evapo- 
ration and chryftalization, that of 
their fixed principles. 

In the prefent edition, belides giv- 
ing a plan of the furrounding coun- 
try, and the relative fituation of the 
Springs at Saratoga and Ballfton, as 
taken from De Witt's Map of the 
State, I have alfo exhibited a view 
of the R ock Spring at Saratoga; ho- 
ping thereby to aflift in giving it a 
proper ftation among the extraordi- 
nary productions of our country. 
The more we reflecft upon it, the 
more we muft be convinced of the 
important place this rock ought to 
B 2 



XV111 

hold among the wonderful works of 
nature. Had it flood upon the bor- 
ders of the Lago cfagnano, the noted 
Grotto del cani % (which burdens al- 
mod every book which treats upon 
the carbonic acid gas, fince the pe- 
culiar properties of that air has been 
known), would have remained an 
obfcure cleft in a rock, and if no- 
ticed at all, would never have been 
heard of beyond the environs of 



* The carbonic acid gas in this cavern, not- 
withstanding its being stated by some as form- 
ing a stratum about knee high, and by others 
as rising a foot from the surface of the floor, 
does not in fact, or at lea?t did not when I vi- 
sited it in 1803, rise above a few inches from 
the ground ; even so as to make it necessary 
for the person who attended to shew the expe- 
riments, to seek out some hollow place to ex- 
tinguish the torch used upon the occasion, and 
also for him to force down the nose of his dog 
verv near the ground, to exhibit its noxious 



XIX 



Naples ; while this fountain, in its 
place, would have been defervedly 
celebrated in ftory, and fpread upon 
canvafs, to the admiration of the 
world, as one of its greatefl curio- 
lities. 

As an objecfl of admiration the 
Grotto del cani can no more bear a 
comparifon with the Rock at Sara- 
toga, than the Water Falls of Tivoli 
could with the Cataract of Niaga- 



effects upon animal life : nor indeed did the 
natural situation of the place at that time, ad- 
mit of its being ^otherwise, for the bottom of 
it, if not descending from its inner extremity 
towards its mouth, was at most not more than 
upon a level, and from its mouth outwards the 
adjoining ground was very considerably de- 
scending. Hence we can hardly conceive but 
that this air, which is about 50 per cent heavi- 
er than the air of the atmosphere, would ne- 
cessarily flow out, before it could rise to such 
a height. 



XX 

ra, or the Lake of Avernus (the 
Tartarus of Virgil) with the ex- 
panded waters of Ontario. 

As the burning mountains of Ita- 
ly command the aftonifhment of 
mankind, fo the cold boiling Springs 
of Saratoga ought, I had almofl faid, 
to demand their adoration. How 
vaftly different, yet how equally 
curious are thefe two fubjedts ! 
while the magnitude of Vefuvius 
defies any comparifon with the di- 
minitive fize of the Rock of Sarato- 
ga, flill the compadl petrified hard- 
nefs of the latter, equally abhors 
comparifon with the cineritious 
crumbling texture of the former : 
while that occafionally burfts forth in 
furious flames and torrents of fiery 
lava, to the terror and oftentimes to 



XXI 

the deJlruElion of the furrounding 
neighbourhood, and requires a 
blind confidence, in a fuppofed pro- 
tecting faint, to preferve the inhabi- 
tants from incejfant apprehenfion, 
this conjiantly boils up a refrefhing 
fountain, attended as it were by 
Hygea herfelf, difpenfing health and 
binefs to all around. 



MINERAL WATERS 

OF 

SARATOGA, &c. 

Topographical Description of the Coun- 
try y and situation of the several 
Springs. 

JL HESE Springs are fituated on 
the fide of a valley, which lies about 
twelve miles weft of the confluence 
of Fifh creek with the Hudfon or 
North river, in the county of Sara- 
toga and ftate of New-York, and 
about two hundred miles above that 
city. This valley, at leafl the part 
of it where the Springs rife, runs a 
northerly and foutherly courfe, and 
appears to have been formed by a 



24 The Mineral Waters of 

branch of the Kayadaroforas river, 
which flows through the middle of 
it, and empties itfelf into Owl pond, 
whence it efFedls a junction with 
the main ftream, at a fmall diflance 
from where that terminates in the 
Saratoga Lake. 

The high ground that forms the 
wefterly bank of the valley, whence 
the waters of thefe fprings, which 
are fituated at its foot, appears to 
have been derived, is compofed al- 
moft entirely of calcarious rocks, 
whofe furface however, is moftly 
overfpread with a fand and clayey 
foil, and covered with tall pines and 
oaks. There are feveral deep fub- 
terraneous caverns obferved in it, 
which open but a fmall diftance 
from where the declivity commen- 



Saratoga and Ballston. 25 

ces. The bank on the eafterly fide 
appears almoft entirely fand, with 
not the leaft veftige of calcareous 
earth, and is a perfedl pine plain. 

The caufe of this fudden change 
of foil, and alfo of the rivers mak- 
ing its way, at this particular junc- 
ture, I leave to the fpeculation of 
the naturalift to determine : a mere 
knowledge of their exiltence and 
fituation being all that is neceffary, 
either as to their affording us an a£- 
fiftant means for afcertaining the 
nature of the Mineral Waters in 
their neighbourhood, or as enabling 
us to account for the prefence of in- 
gredients found in them. About 
four miles weft of thefe fprings, I 
am informed there is a flrong fcent- 
ed fulphureous fpring. 
c 



26 The Mineral Waters of 

The fprings are eight or ten in 
number, and all are within the fpace 
of about half a mile. THE ROCK 
SPRING has particularly attradled 
the attention of the curious, and is 
moftly drank of by valetudinarians. 
It rifes about midway between the 
others, and is entirely furrounded 
by a rock of a conical fhape, which 
is about five feet high, and nine feet 
in diameter at the bafe ; it has a cir- 
cular hole in its apex, of near ten 
inches acrofs, which is the opening 
of its inner cavity where the water, 
enlivened by continued ftreams of 
air-bubbles pafling through it, rifes 
to within about two feet of its top. 
This cavity, like the outfide of the 
rock, enlarges as it defcends. The 
furface of this rock is of an afh 
colour, and appears compad; and 



Saratoga and Ballston. 27 

polifhed* ; it has a crack in one 
fide, which is fuppofed to defcend 
internally, and form fome vent be- 
low the furface of the ground, by 
which the water makes its way out, 
as it has not been known to over- 
flow for feveral years paft.f 



* The general substance of this rock is very 
different from that of its surface, for instead 
of being compact and solid, it is of an open and 
spongv texture. 

t This circumstance would seem, at first 
sight, to be a matter of regret ; but when it is 
considered that we have thereby in the upper 
chamber, a well contrived reservoir for the 
collection and preservation of the gas that is 
constantly accumulating therein, it becomes 
questionable whether it ought not rather to be 
considered as a fortunate occurrence, for while 
the water is not thereby put out of reach, its 
surface is constantly protected from coming in 
contact w T ith the atmospheric air, which might 
deprive it of a portion of its sparkling brisk- 
ness: it at the same time furnishes the chemi- 
cal operator with a considerable quantity of the 



28 The Mineral Waters of 

This fra&ure in the rock, is be- 
lieved to have been produced by the 
fall of a tree acrofs it ; and the re- 
mains of the upper part of one 
which lies in the marfli below, and 
whofe body is directed immediately 
towards it, renders this opinion ve- 
ry probable, fince its fize and filia- 
tion prove that it muft have flood 
on the oppofite fide of the fpring. 
Indeed I am informed by a man of 
that country, that he very well re- 
colledls when the tree flood there, 
and that then the water overflowed 



pure unmixed air, ready collected to his hand, 
for making such experiments as he may wish, 
either to ascertain its nature or to demonstrate 
its qualities. The specific gravity of this air 
being greater than that of the- atmosphere, pre- 
vents it from being readily dislodged from its 
apartment. 



Saratoga and Ballston, 29 

the rock. Another perfon inform- 
ed me, that he knew it to overflow 
in the time of the late revolutionary 
war. 

All thefe waters naturally depofit 
a petrifa6live matter over where 
they flow, thereby forming to 
themfelves a barrier againft the in- 
trufion of foreign fub fiances. How 
the Rock Spring, in particular, has 
furrounded itfelf by fuch a regular 
formed conical mafs, is a fubjedl of 
curious inveftigation. For my own 
part, I am difpofed to conjecture, 
that the main body of it was origi- 
nally formed below the furface of 
the earth, by the calcareous fub- 
ftance which is continually fepara- 
ting from the water, (in confe- 
quence of the efcape of the fupera- 
c 2 



30 The Mineral Waters of 

bundant carbonic acid) insinuating 
itfelf among, and in fome degree 
uniting with, the furrounding hete- 
rogeneous earthy matters : whence 
the reafon of its fpongy texture. 
This hardened mafs then refitting 
the floods of rain, which wafhing 
down the bank, and gradually car- 
rying off the loofer earth from a- 
round it, it neceflarily would, in 
time, become above the level of the 
adjacent ground, the natural Situa- 
tion of this fpring rendering it of 
more difficult accefs than the others, 
would fecure it from being tram- 
pled down by fuch animals as may 
have reforted there for drink. Since 
its expofure to the air, perhaps du- 
ring the courfe of ages, the water 
has been permitted unmoleftedly to 



Saratoga and Ballstoji. 31 

precipitate particles upon particles 
of the ftony matter upon its furface, 
till finally it has become covered 
with that compacl, folid fubflance, 
which adds fo much to the beauty 
of its prefent appearance. . 

THE BATHING SPRING. 

This has obtained its name from 
its furnifhing the waters that are 
continually conveyed from it into 
the bathing-tub, which is in a log 
inclofure juft below it, in the marfli. 
It is fituated a fmall diftance from 
the Rock Spring, and has afforded 
a much greater quantity of the pe- 
trifactive depofition ; fo much in- 
deed, as to have formed an irregular 
rock around itfelf, of upwards of 20 



32 The Mineral Waters of 

feet in diameter ; but by being more 
eafily come at, its tender layers have 
been continually trodden down, as 
they formed, before it could affiime 
any regular fhape. 

TheJIony matter of thefe Springs, 
by calcination, formed quicklime. 

A piece of it put into fulphuric 
(vitriolic) acid, caufed a great efFer- 
vefcence, and formed a felenites, or 
plaifler of paris, and alfo a fmall por- 
tion of alum, as was proved by the 
folution depofiting a cloudy fedi- 
ment, on paffing volatile alkaline gas 
through it. This folution alfo con- 
tained the fulphate of iron (copperas) 
whence it affumed a beautiful blue 
colour, bv the addition of lime water 
faturated with Prujfian blue, and be- 
came purple by dropping into it the 



Saratoga arid Ballston. 33 

tinclure of galls. Thefe experiments 
lead to the conclufion that the petri- 
faction muft be compofed of an 
argillo calcareous earth and iron*. 
To this laft is owing the reddifh co- 
lour with which great part of it is 
tinged. 

Having fettled thefe prelimina- 
ries, we proceed more particularly 
to enquire into the 
NATURE OF THE WATERS. 

I. Of their Phyjical Properties. 

i ft. Thefe waters, in general, ap- 
pear nearly tranfparent, yet none of 

* The circumstance of this petrifaction con- 
taining argillaceous earth, supports in some de- 
gree the conjecture respecting the original for- 
mation of the conical Rock, since this earth 
could not have been derived from the water it- 
self, as that does not appear to contain any in 
its composition, 



34 The Mineral Waters of 

them perfectly fo, excepting that 
which rifes up in a barrel, which 
the neighbours have fixed for the 
purpofe of collecting it, and is call- 
ed the Barrel Spring. They are co- 
lourlefs) and emit a great quantity of 
air by agitation ; even by {landing 
{till, in an open veffel, it almoft im- 
mediately forms bubbles around its 
infide, which foon rife up and are 
difcharged. The veffel ufed to dip 
the water out of the rock, and alfb 
the bathing tub, foon gather an 
ochery cruji upon their inner furfa- 
ces. Wherever thefe waters ftag- 
nate, around the fprings, befides de- 
politing the ftony matter before 
mentioned, their furface alfo foon 
becomes overfpread with an iri<- 



Saratoga and Ballston. S5 

defcent pellicle of a metallic fplen- 
dour, reflecting variegated colours. 

2d. They diffufe a fubtle pene- 
trating odour, which is molt parti- 
cularly experienced by breathing in 
the orifice of the rock. 

3d. When drank, their firft im- 
preflion on the palate, is agreeably 
acidulous^ fucceeded by a naufeous 
/aline taite ; they afterwards give up 
accfcent emulations •, like fermented 
liquors, and which are no ways un- 
pleafant. 

4th. The hydrometer ftands at the 
fame height in thefe, as in fnow- 
water. 

5th. Notwithftanding the dif- 
charge of air, from thefe waters 
makes them appear to be in a con- 
tinued ebullition, yet they are cold. 



36 The Mineral Waters of 

Their temperature, however, is not 
the fame in all the fprings, but 
feems to diminifh in proportion to 
their brilknefs. Thus the Bathing 
Spring and the Barrel, each of which 
difcharges about twenty gallons in 
an hour, lowered Farenheit's ther- 
mometer from 72 , the heat of the 
atmofphere, to 52 while in the 
others, which are much flower, it 
flood at 56° and 58°,but in the Rock 
water it remained at 67 . 

6th. By the application of a gen- 
tle beat, thefe waters difcharge a 
great quantity of air in bubbles : 
it is upon this property that their 
ufe in railing bread depends, and for 
which purpofe they are carried a- 
way in confiderable quantities dai- 
ly, even fometimes to eight or ten 



Saratoga and Ballston. 37 

miles diftance ; all that is neceflary 
being merely to make the dough, 
with flour and this water alone, and 
it is immediately ready to be put 
into the oven. 

II. Experiments upon the Air. 
i ft. A lighted candle let down in the 
crater of the rock, was immediately 
cxtingnijhed^ both blaze and wick, 
before it came within a foot of the 
furface of the water. The air ob- 
tained by agitating the water of 
this, as well as of the other fprings, 
was equally incapable of fupporting 
combuftion, as was alfo that collect- 
ed from the bubbles, that were con- 
tinually difcharging from the dif- 
ferent fprings. 

2d. A chicken being immerfed in 

this air, expired in three minutes. 
D 



38 The Mineral Waters of 

A kitten confined in it for one and a 
half minutes, appeared very flaccid 
and almoft dead ; yet, on being 
brought out, into the atmofpheric 
air, its fleeting life was foon recall- 
ed, through the medium of violent 
convulfions. Being again put into 
the noxious gas, in fourteen mi- 
nutes it was irrecoverably dead. 

3d. The air being made to pafs 
through lime-water, immediately 
rendered it very turbid. 

4th. A diluted tinclure of turnfol 
was tinged red by having a portion 
of this air pafled through it. 

From the phyfical qualities men- 
tioned, and from the above experi- 
ments, we may fafely conclude, that 
this air is the true carbonic acid gas , 
the fpiritus mineralis of Hoffman, 



Saratoga and Ballston. 39 

thegasjilve/lre of Van Helmont,the 
aerial acid of Bergman, the Jixed air 
of Prieftley, Cavendifti and Black, 
the cretaceous acid of Fourcroy, and 
what is generally known with mi- 
ners by the name of choak damp: it 
is flmilar to the noxious gas which 
rifes up to the height of fome inches 
in the famous grotto del cani in Ita- 
ly. This cave having received its 
name from its fatality to dogs, they 
from carrying their heads below 
the furface of this ftratum of air, 
being the animals which are gene- 
rally fubmitted to experiments, to 
fatisfy travellers of its deleterious 
effects. 

It is this air which is fo plenti- 
fully given out during the fpiritu- 
ous fermentation, and is what gives 



40 The Mineral Waters of 

that brifknefs to porter, champagne 
and other fermented liquors. Be- 
ing united with the vegetable alka- 
li, it forms the common potafh of 
commerce. Hence the reafon why 
our good houfewives are enabled, 
any time, at half an hour's warning, 
to furnifh us with a well raifed cake 
merely by mixing up the flour with 
a lbiution of potaih and four milk. 
Here the acid of the milk, from a 
greater attraction, joins itfelf to the 
alkali, while the carbonic acid taking 
its aerial form upon being fet at li- 
berty, and affifted by the expanfive 
power of heat, penetrates and puffs 
up every particle of the dough. It is 
this air alfo which conftitutes the 
difference between quick-lime and 
chalk or limeflone. Its difcharge 
is the effecft of their calcination, 



Saratoga and Ballston. 41 

III. The effecls of Re-agents upon the 
Waters. 

i ft. The Rock water had a little 
of the tinclure of tarnfol dropped in- 
to it, which immediately gave it a 
reddijh tinge. 

2d. The infufion of the blue petals 
of our common larkfpur* was not 
changed by it. 

3d. In lime-water , it inftantly in- 
duced a milky turbidnefs^ followed by 
a depofition of a white powder. 

4th. Tinclure of galls rendered it 
purple^. 

* The infusion of blue larkspur I have 
found to be a most accurate test for discover- 
ing the presence of the smallest quantity of al- 
kalies and of fixed acids, but not the carbonic. 

■\ It has been observed, that notwithstanding 
this water mixes with gin, without discoloura- 
tion, yet it will not make grog j for immediate- 
D 2 



42 The Mineral Waters of 

5th. Pruffiate of lime produced no 
change in it. 

6th. A folution of potofh (cauftic 
vegetable alkali) produced a turbid- 
?iefs in it. 

7th. It was alfo made turbid by 
carbonate of potafh (aerated vegeta- 
ble alkali). 

8th. Ammonia (cauftic volatile al- 
kali) forms a cloudinefs in it, yield- 
ing a white precipitate. 

9th. Sulphuric acid (oil of vitriol) 
dropped into the water, caufed a 
great ejfervefcence^ and a little tur- 
bidnefs. 

ly upon pouring in the spirits, it becomes 
blackish. This, though unaccountable to ma- 
ny, is no more than what every chemist would 
expect, when he considers that from the oak 
casks in which spirits are kept, it generally be- 
comes a true tincture, of a vegetable astringent, 



Saratoga and Ballston. 4S 

10th. After fulphuric acid had 
been dropped in the water, it then 
became blue by Prujfian lime-water. 

nth. Nitrate of filver dropped 
into the water, formed an immedi- 
ate copious white curdled precipitate ; 
this, as alfo the water itfelf, foon at 
fumed a dirty bluiJJj colour. 

1 2 th. Nitrate of mercury produced 
a copious yellowifh precipitate. 

13th. Acid of fugar occafioned a 
cloudinefs which foon fettled down 
in a white precipitate. 

14th. Acetite of lead produced a 
copious white, but not granulated, 
precipitate. 

Molt of thefe experiments were 
frequently repeated, and with limi- 
lar refults. 

The waters of the other fprings 



44 The Mineral Waters of 

exhibited the fame appearances, 
with the above re-agents, as the 
Rock water, excepting that of the 
Bathing Spring, and of the Barrel, 
both of which ftiewed a deeper pur- 
ple tinge with tin6ture of galls. By 
boiling the water, it difcharged a 
great quantity of air , and formed a 
pellicle upon its furface, and depojited 
a white powder. Afterwards it had 
not that brifk acidulous tafte, as be- 
fore, but was extremely naufeous : 
it was not reddened by tindlure of 
turnfol, nor rendered purple by 
tindture of galls : with infulion of 
larkfpur it became green : it ftill 
precipitated lime-water^ though not fo 
plentifully as before, and alfo effer- 
vefced (lightly, with fulphuric acid, 
but was not made turbid thereby : 



Saratoga and Ballston. 45 

it changed the yellow matter oftur- 
merick to an orange redox brick colour. 
Acid of fugar did not induce any 
turbidnefs in it ; it formed a light 
cloud upon (landing a little time 
with the caiiflic vegetable alkali, but 
was not altered by the aerated vege- 
table alkali (carbonate of potafh). 

From the foregoing experiments, 
I conclude that thefe waters contain , 

i ft. An uncombined acid, whereby 
they become red by tincture of 
turnfol, and that this cannot be a 
fixed acid, fince it does not redden 
infufion cf larkfpur, and is evapo- 
rated by boiling ; for afterwards 
the water does not change the tinc- 
ture of turnfol, therefore it mud be 
the carbonic acid gas, (fixed air) the 
fame as has been heretofore proved 



46 The Mineral Waters of 

to be continually difcharging from 
them, in large quantities. It is from 
the prefence of this, that lime-water 
becomes fo very turbid, for with 
lime, unlefs by a fuperfaturation, it 
forms a compound infoluble in wa- 
ter. 

2d. Iron. — Hence it takes a pur- 
ple tinge, with tindlure of galls ; 
and alfo, when previoufly joined 
with fulphuric acid, becomes blue^ 
with pruffiate of lime (Pruffian lime 
water). The iron is not kept in fo- 
lution by the fulphuric acid, or it 
would have become blue by this 
teft before the acid was added to it, 
but by the carbonic acid. Hence 
after being boiled, this water is not 
difcoloured by tindlure of galls. 

3d. A quantity of lime held in fo- 



Saratoga and JSallston. 47 

lution by a fuperfaturation with 
carbonic acid; for notwith (landing 
lime, as before obferved, is render- 
ed infoluble by uniting with this 
acid, yet it is otherwife when fuper- 
faturated therewith ; for then it is, 
to the contrary, much more foluble. 
Hence the caufe of a precipitation^ 
by the pure potalh and by the am- 
monia. They, from their affinity 
to the acid, deprive the lime of its 
fuperabundance, and permit it to 
fall down in a white powder. The 
fulphuric acid, on the contrary, at- 
tracts the lime, and forms a gypfe- 
ous depofition, while the carbonic 
acid flies off in a great effervefcence. 
The acid of fugar, alfo evinces the 
prefence of lime, by uniting and 
forming an infoluble compound 



48 The Mineral Waters of 

with it. Thefe tefts did not exhibit 
the fame appearances with the water 
after ebullition. Hence the pellicle 
and deposition, formed during that 
procefs, I take to be calcareous earth 
and iron. 

4th. A muriatic acid. — Hence with 
nitrated filver it forms a fudden, 
cafeous precipitate, and alfo a preci- 
pitate with nitrated mercury ; this 
laft, on being fublimed, afforded 
corrofive fublimate. 

5th. A neutral fait. Since it is 
evident from the two laft mention- 
ed experiments, that thefe waters 
contain a marine acid, and by fome 
of the previous ones, that this does 
not exift in them in a feparate ftate, 
it muft therefore be united either 
with an earth or an alkali ; and as * 



Saratoga and Ballston. 49 

a carbonated alkali will be fliewn to 
be prefent in them, it is evident that 
it mud be joined with the latter, 
fince alkalies have a greater attrac- 
tion for acids than earths have. 

6 th. A carb 07i cited alkali^ where- 
by, after the water has been boiled^ 
it rendered the infufion of larkfpur 
green, and eftervefced with vitriolic 
acid : hence alfo the caufe why 
lime-water was flill preripitated by 
it ; the carbonic acid qui k die alkali 
to unite with its more attracting 
lime, formed therewith, as above 
mentioned, an infoluble compound. 
And that the phenomena were pro- 
duced, at leaft in part by carbonate 
of an alkali, and not by the carbo- 
nate of magnefia alone, is evident 
from its changing the yellow colour 
t 



50 The Mineral Waters of 

of turmerick to that of a brick red, 
which could only have been effect- 
ed by the prefence of an alkali. The 
reafon why the water did not 
change the infufion of larkfpur, be- 
fore it was boiled, muft have been 
owing to the alkali's being fuperfa- 
turated with the carbonic acid ; in 
which cafe, (as I proved by an expe- 
riment inftituted for that purpofe) 
it may exift in confiderable quanti- 
ty in water, without changing ve- 
getable blues. 

7th. A flight impregnation of ful- 
phur, thereby darkening the nitra- 
ted filver. This is what might be 
reafonably expected, as within about 
four miles there is a ftrong fcented 
fulphureous fpring. 

The laft mentioned experiment, 



Saratoga and Bailston. 51 

on the waters, previous to ebullition 
(fee p. 43) proves, by the precipi- 
tates not appearing granulated, that 
fulphuric acid does not exift in the 
waters, either in a fimple or combi- 
ned ftate. 

The prefence of a carbonated alka- 
li in thefe waters, clearly proves that 
they cannot contain any earthy or 
metallic falts other than carbonates, 
fince the alkali, from its fuperior at- 
traction to acids, would neceffarily 
prevent their formation. From the 
above effects of re-agents, it appears 
that the waters contain 

Carbonic Acid, 

Carbonate of Iron, 

Lime Superfaturated with Carbo- 
nic Acid, 

Muriatic Salt, 



52 The Mineral Waters of 
Carbonated Alkali, 



*3 



Carbonated Magnefia, and a 

Sulphureous Impregnation. 

The proportion of each of the a- 
bove ingredients, and the nature of 
t;he bafe of the neutral fait, and the 
fpecies of the carbonated alkali yet 
remained unknown, I therefore pro- 
ceeded by the more tedious procefles 
of Diftillation, Evaporation, and 
Cryftallization, to afcertain thefe 
points. 

IV. Diftillation. 

From the experiments of Berg- 
man and Henry, it appears that wa- 
ter is capable of abforbing about 
equal its bulk of carbonic acid gas, 
at the temperature of 55°, and pro- 
portionably lefs as its temperature 
is increafed. Now, as the bubbles 



Saratoga and Balkton. 53 

of this air are continually palling 
through the waters under examina- 
tion, it is clear that they mud be 
fully faturated with it ; and as they 
are of the temperature at which wa- 
ter will retain about equal its bulk, 
we of courfe conclude, that they 
contain that proportion. The fol- 
lowing experiment tends to confirm 
that opinion. 

By means of a Florence flafk, 
with a fyphon properly affixed to 
it, and the application of heat, I 
colledled, from a given quantity of 
this water, upwards of its bulk of 
aerial fluid, the greater part of 
which I take to be the above men- 
tioned acid j the reft perhaps, part- 
ly azote (atmofpheric mephitis), 
and partly oxygen gas (vital air). 
E 2 



54 The Mineral Waters of 

That the water contains this laft, is 
proved by its precipitating an oche- 
ry fubflance^ after having had fome 

fulphate of iron (green vitriol) dif- 
folved in it, in a well corked vial. 
V. Evaporation. 
By evaporating ten pounds of the 
water of the Rock, in glafs veflels, 
by the heat of a water bath, I ob- 
tained an afh -coloured refidue, 
which when dried weighed 403 
grains. This refiduum was put in- 
to four times its weight of fpirits of 
wine, which after (landing a consi- 
derable time, being frequently agi- 
tated, was filtered and dried, and 
was found to have loft about 17 
grains, which proved to be common 

fait ; for by evaporating the fpirits, 
I obtained it in regular cubic cryftals* 



Saratoga and Balkton* 55 



This circumftance of fpirits of 
wine difTolving a portion of marine 
fait, I take to be owing to its not be- 
ing fo highly rectified as it ought to 
have been, for if perfectly pure it 
would only have taken up muriate 
of lime, muriate of magnefia, ni- 
trate of lime, nitrate of magnefiai 
and muriate of terra ponderofa ; 
but when fomewhat diluted, it will, 
befides thefe falts, alfo take up 
others. However, as by evapora- 
tion I obtained nothing but cubic 
cryflals,Iagain conclude, pofitively, 
what in fadl was before proved by 
re-agents, that there are none of the 
above mentioned earthy falts in 
thefe waters. 

I now immerfed the refiduum in 
8 oz. of cold water, which after re- 



5$ The Mineral Waters of 

maining feveral hours, being fre- 
quently agitated, was filtered. The 
infoluble part, when dried and 
weighed, was found to have loft 182 
grains. This watery folution, by 
turning the infufion of larkfpur 
green, appears to contain an alkali 
uncombined with any of the fixed 
acids. This folution not changing 
the colour of the infufion of larkfpur 
to a red, renders it evident that the 
muriatic acid before ihewn to be 
contained in thefe waters, cannot be 
in an uncombined ftate : and in- 
deed the prefence of a carbonated 
alkali in them, proves that it mufl 
be in combination with a fait of 
that kind ; for having a greater at- 
traction for them than the carbonic 
acid has, it would neceflarily pre- 



Saratoga and Balhton. 57 

vent the exiftence of a carbonate, 
unlefs it was itfelf previoufly fatu- 
rated. We may therefore now again 
conclude that the waters contain a 
muriatic neutral fait. 

This folution of a muriatic neu- 
tral fait and an alkali, I fubmitted to 
the heat of the fun; whereby, after 
great part of the water was evapo- 
rated, fome cubic cryftals appear- 
ed to form upon its furface, but 
which were foon difturbed by irre- 
gular faline concretions. 

Having afcertained the prefence 
of a muriatic neutral fait, and an al- 
kali, but not knowing decidedly, 
either the fpecies of the alkali, or 
the bafe of the neutral fait, I made 
a faturated folution of this mixed 
fait, and added thereto acid of tar- 



58 The Mineral Waters of 

tar, and no precipitation taking 
place, I concluded that the alkali 
could not be of the vegetable kind, 
or it would have fallen down in the 
form of cream of tartar : therefore 
the aerated alkali muft be the mine- 
ral alkali, (carbonated fbda) and the 
bafe of the neutral muft be the 
fame, which with its acid, forms our 
common fea fait (muriate of foda). 
To find the proportion of the ma- 
rine fait and the foda, I difTolved 
the mixed fait in water, and added 
diftilled vinegar thereto, until I 
brought it to the exadl point of fa- 
turation. I then faturated an equal 
quantity of diftilled vinegar, with 
carbonate of foda, for which purpofe 
it required 26 grains ; whence it 
appears that ten pounds of this mi- 



Saratoga and Bathton. 59 

neral water contain 26 grains of 
carbonate of foda ; the remainder, 
156 grains, mud be muriate of fo- 
da, which added to the 1 7 grains 
diflblved in the fpirits of wine, 
makes 173 grains, the amount con- 
tained in that quantity of the water* 
The remaining 204 grains I ex- 
pofed to the fun, for feveral weeks, 
moiftening it frequently with rain 
water. This was done in order to 
ruft the iron, fo as to make it folu- 
ble in diitilled vinegar, in which this 
refidue was afterwards digefted and 
filtered. The filtered liquor was 
then evaporated, and what was left 
was re-diffolved in fulphuric acid, 
with which it formed fulphate of 
lime (gypfum) but no bitter fait. 
Hence, as there were but about 1 2 



60 The Mineral Waters of 

or 14 grains remaining on the filter, 
it appears that ten pounds of this 
water contain 190 grains of lime, 
but very little if any magnefia. 

The fubftance remaining on the 
filter, by being diflblved in vitriolic 
acid,afforded 81-2 grains of iron, 
precipitated in form of Pruflian 
blue, by the Pruffian lime-water. 

It appears from a review of thefe 
experiments, that ten pounds of this 
water muft contain, 

Carbonic Acid (fixed air) which 
when extricated inform of gas,mea- 
fures about 200 cubic inches, 
Carbonate of Soda 26 grso 

Muriate of Soda (feafalt) 173 
Super-Carbonated Lime, 190 
Carbonate of Iron, 8.5. 



Saratoga and Ballston. 61 

Befides the Mineral Waters that 
have been already noticed, there are 
others in the county of Saratoga. 
About three miles below the junc- 
tion of Fifli creek with the North 
river, and about two miles weft of 
the latter, in a hollow immediately 
back of the dwelling houfe of Wil- 
liam Barker^ are fevcral Mineral 
Spring s, the waters of which, both 
by their fenfible qualities, and by 
the operation of re-agents, appear 
to be very fimilar to thofe hereto- 
fore mentioned. They do not, how- 
ever, depofit the ftony matter, nor 
do they in other refpe&s, appear to 
be fo ftrongly impregnated with 
Mineral fubftances. 

They are fituated in a clayey foil, 
with no appearance of lime-ftone in 

F 



62 The Mineral Waters of 

their neighbourhood. The land is 
covered with beach and oak trees. 

The air which bubbles up in thefe 
fprings, appears to be the fame acid 
as is difcharged from the other 
iprings: it equally extinguifhes flame 

. and renders lime-water turbid, &c. 
Aquatic animals cannot fupport life 
when fubmerfed in this water. A 

fiflo in two and a half minutes died 
in it. 

Iron appears to exift in thefe wa- 
ters, by their becoming tinged, 
though flightly, with tinclure of 
galls ; and it muft be held in folu- 
tion by means of the carbonic acid 5 
as they were not changed by the 
tincture after they had been boiled. 
Lime rendered foluble by a fuper- 
abundance of carbonic acid, was 



Saratoga and Balls ton. 66 

detected in thefe, by the fame means 
as were ufed with the other waters. 
They probably contain a carbonat- 
ed alkali, for after being boiled, they 
(till effervefced with fulphuric arid* 
Muriatic acid is proved to exift in 
them, by the nitrated friver and ni- 
trated mercury , and it muft be in 
combination ; thereby forming a 
neutral fait) whofe bafe, though not 
fully afcertained, is prefumed from 
its tafte, and the great fimilarity 
there is between thefe and the other 
waters, to be of the mineral kind; 
therefore the neutral I believe to be 
fea fait. 

Beiides thefe afcefcent fprings, 
there is another in the fame hollow, 
about a flone's throw diftance from 
them, which is entirely of a differ- 



tj4 The Mineral Waters of 

ent nature, and from its fmelling 
like the wafhings of a gun-barrel, 
has obtained the name of Gunpow- 
der Spring. The water is tranfpa- 
rent ; its temperature 58 ; it fmells 
and tqjles like fidphur, or rather 
hepar fulphuris. By boiling, it 
lofes both its difagreeable fmell 
and tafte. 

The air difcharged from it by 
boiling, being made to pafs through 
lime-water, produced no turbidnefs : 
hence it contains no free carbonic 
acid. 

This water is not difcoloured either 
by tincture of galls or Prujfian lime- 
water. With nitrated mercury it 
forms a precipitate. 

With nitrated filver it alfo forms 
a precipitate ; which, as well as the 



Saratoga mid Ballston. 65 

water, directly affumes a dark pur- 
pli/h brown colour. This precipitate 
is fufpedled to arife from a marine 
acid, and the dark colour from a 
hepatic or fulphureous gas. 

Sulphuric acid produces an effer- 
vefcence. This muft be owing to the 
prefence of a carbonated alkali. It 
alfo rendered lime-water turbid: this 
might be from the fame caufe. 
Hence the above-mentioned muria- 
tic acid muft have been in combina- 
tion in form of a neutral fait. 



F2 



BALLSTON. 



jr LACES, like perfons, after hav- 
ing attained a certain degree of cele- 
brity, frequently undergo a change 
in their names. Thus the modeft 
fontaine de belle eau has become the 
admired Fontainbleau^ and the once 
obfcure town of Brighthelmeftone 
has become the brilliant Brighton. 
So alfo Ballftown, which afterwards 
to diftinguifh it from a place of the 






68 The Mineral Waters of 

fame name in the Diftridl of Maine, 
was called Balltown, has finally, in 
feeming fubferviency to the ton of 
the times, affumed the more fafhi- 
onable title of Ballfton. 

THE BALLSTON SPRINGS 
arife about feven miles to the fouth- 
ward of the Rock Spring at Sarato- 
ga, and like that, they are fituated in 
a valley, through which alfo runs a 
branch of the Kayadaroforas. The 
foil nearly adjacent to the Spring, 
is poor and fandy. Upon digging 
down into it, Dr. Vandervoort fays, 
it becomes intermixed with clay 
and with fome ferruginous particles 
appearing like the ruft of iron ; and 
in fome places he obferves, large 
quantities of bog ore are found : 
one bed in particular, he notices, a 



Saratoga and Ballston. 6 9 

little to the weftward, and almofl 
adjoining one of the Springs. 

The produce of the foil in the im- 
mediate vicinity of the Springs, is 
chiefly pines, fcrub oaks, and fome 
chefnut, together with ferns and 
mulleins. 

The temperature of the water of 
thefe Springs in the fummer, varies 
from 50 to 58 ', about the fame as 
the medium temperature of the wa- 
ters of Saratoga. Thefe waters have 
air bubbles conftantly pafling up 
through them ; they fparkle in the 
glafs, and when drank give an aci- 
dulous, followed by a f aline tajle^ 
though not fo naufeous as thofe of 
Saratoga. They affedt the nofe and 
palate with a pungent penetrating 
fliarpnefs, like mead or lively bot- 



70 The Mineral Waters of 

tied cyder, and oftentimes a draught 
of them is fucceeded by fimilar 
eradiations. From experiments 
made upon it, this air appears equal- 
ly, with that from the waters of the 
other fprings, to be incapable of fup- 
porting combuflion or animal life. 

From the effedls of re-agents and 
from evaporating this water, and fe- 
parating the different parts of the 
refiduum, it appears to be very fi- 
milar to the water of the Rock 
Spring, Dr. Vandervoort found it 
to contain, 

Muriate of Soda, 
Carbonate of Lime, 
Carbonate of Iron, and 
Carbonic Acid. 
This account of Dr. Vandervoort's 
experiments was publiihed in 1795, 



Saratoga and Ballston. 71 

about two years after the publica- 
tion of the firft edition of my Dif- 
fertation on the Waters of Saratoga. 
In the year 1808 there appeared 
in feveral of our newfpapers, an ac- 
count of the analyfis of a bottle of 
the Ballfton water, faid to have been 
made in France. This account was 
afterwards treafured up in the form 
of an article in the Medical Repofi- 
tory of New- York, and again re- 
published in the Monthly Antho- 
logy of Boflon, ftating it, at the 
fame time, as a public benefit, &c. 
From this account having thus ob- 
tained a place in fuch refpedtable 
publications, and differing as it 
does, in feveral refpedls, from the 
analyfis before mentioned, juftice 
to Dr. Vandervoort and duty to the 



72 The Mineral Waters of 

community require, that we give it 
fome attention, and that the waters 
fhould be more particularly exam- 
ined ; not merely to fettle the dif- 
ference between the two experi- 
menters, but for the more important 
purpofe of afcertaiiiing what, in 
truth, are their real contents ; efpe- 
cially as they now have got into 
fuch general ufe, and are fo fre- 
quently prefcribed by phyficians. 
Silence, upon this occafion, would 
feem to give a fandlion to what it is 
prefumed the following inveftiga- 
tion will prove to be highly erro- 
neous in that account, which is fta- 
ted to be an accurate analyfis, pub- 
lilhed under the impofing authority 
of a perfon, who (though his name 
is not mentioned) is faid to be one 



Saratoga and Ballston. 73 

of the mod celebrated chemifts of 
France. The account fays, that a 
bottle of the water, after having 
been tranfported to France, contain- 
ed three times its bulk of carbonic acid 
gas. Whereas, by a well diredted 
experiment, Dr. Vandervoort could 
obtain at moft, not above a third 
part of that quantity from it, and 
that when frefh from the fountain. 
This experiment, related at full 
length, ought of itfelf to fatisfy us 
as to his conclufions. But when in 
addition thereto, we confider that 
neither Bergman nor Henry could 
caufe water, at the temperature of 
the Ballfton Waters, to abforb more 
than about that proportion, we can 
no longer doubt that the French ac- 
count is greatly exaggerated, and in- 

G 



74 The Mineral Waters of 

ftead of the waters containing tre- 
ble their quantity, that they have 
not more than equal their bulk of car- 
bonic acid gas fixed in their compo- 
fition. 

Further, the two accounts differ 
in refpe(5l to the ftate of the calcari- 
ous matter held in folution ; for 
while the French chemift afferts 
that they contain a quantity of the 
muriate of lime, Dr. Vandervoort 
makes no mention of that, as a part 
of their compofition. To deter- 
mine this point, having procured 
fome of the Ballfton water, I evapo- 
rated it to one fourth part of its ori- 
ginal quantity, decanted and filter- 
ed the liquid, and dropped into it a 
folution of oxalic acid, which pro- 
duced a flight effervefcence^ but no 



Saratoga and Ballston* 75 

doudinefs or precipitation took place ; 
whence it is evident that no muriate 
of lime ex i fled in it. 

To afcertain flill further what 
other matters were contained in 
this water, the evaporated portion 
of it was fubmitted to the follow- 
ing experiments, viz. 

i . A paper flained blue with the 
petals of the common iris, was 
changed to a green by being im- 
merfed in it. 

2. Strips of the fame paper, pre- 
vioufly reddened by a very diluted 
nitric acid, were by it, firft gradual- 
ly reftored to their original blue, 
and then alfo became green. 

3. Lime-water rendered it milky ^ 
and depofited a copious precipitate. 



76 The Mineral Waters of 

4. Nitric acid dropped into it, 
produced a difcharge of air bubbles. 

5. A folution of potafh produced 
a flight turbidnefs in it, which by 
{landing, formed a permanent thick 
cloud near its furface. This after- 
wards was diflblved with efFervef- 
cence, by the addition of a few 
drops of the fulphuric acid, and 
the liquid refumed its former trans- 
parency. 

6. The muriate of lime rendered 
it turbid^ and let fall a denfe and 
apparently heavy precipitate. 

7. Carbonate offoda exhibited no 
evident effecl^ upon being mixed 
with it. 

8. The carbonate of ammonia ad- 
ded to it, did not effect its tranfpa- 
rency. 



Saratoga and Balls ton. 77 

9. This mixture of it with carbo- 
nate of ammonia^ immediately loft 
its tranfparency, became turbid and 
let fall a precipitate by the addition 
of the phofphate offoda. 

1 o. The yellow colouring matter of 
turmerick was changed to a brick red 
by being mixed with it. 

All thefe phenomena, as well as 
the difcharge of air by the addition 
of the oxalic acid, in the firft afore- 
faid experiment, are eafily explain- 
able, upon the prefumption of the 
prefence of the carbonate of magne- 
fia and the carbonate offoda ; and as 
they feem inexplicable upon any 
other principle, in my opinion they 
fully eftablifh the fact of thefe fub- 
ftances being a part of the compo- 
fition of thefe waters. If then thefe 

G 2 



78 The Mineral Waters of 

waters contain the carbonate of fo- 
da, it is impoffible that the muriate 
of magnefia (ftated by the afore- 
mentioned account to be a part of 
their compofition) fhould exift in 
them ; for the fuperior attraction 
of the alkali for the muriatic acid, 
would utterly prevent the forma- 
tion of a magnefian muriate. 

Finally, I think we may fafely 
conclude that the Mineral Waters 
of Ballfton hold in folution, 

Carbonic Acid, 

Muriate of Soda, 

Carbonate of Lime, 

Carbonate of Soda, 

Carbonate of Iron, and 

Carbonate of Magnefia. 
Nor will any experiments yet pub- 
lifhed, warrant us in concluding 
that they contain any thing elfe. 



OF THE 

USE AND MEDICINAL VIRTUES 

OF THE 

WATERS 

OF 

SARATOGA AND BALLSTON. 



E< 



I VERY local confideration, be- 
fide the highly medicinal virtues of 
the waters themfelves, tends to ren- 
der thefe Springs equal, if not fu- 
perior, as a place of general refort, 
to any of the moft diftinguifhed 
watering places in Europe. The 
face of the furrounding country ^ 
diverfified with Lakes and inter- 
fered with the branches of the 



80 The Mineral Waters of 

Kayadaroforas, the vicinity of the 
majeftic Hudfon, with its fine hang- 
ing bridge, on the eaft ; the rich 
Mohawk, and the roaring cataracft 
of the Cohoos, on the fouth ; toge- 
ther with the romantic mountain 
fcenery on the north and weft, all 
confpire to make this one of the 
moft interesting fpots that the ima- 
gination could conceive. The 
fportfman here, need never lan- 
guifh for want of employment : 
fhould filhing be his favourite a- 
mufement, he has the lakes and ri- 
vers at his command : if he de- 
lights in his gun, here are not want- 
ing objedls whereupon to try his 
ikill. To thofe who are fond of 
riding and of enjoying the fublime 
and varied fcenery of nature, no 



Saratoga and Balls ton. 81 

country is better calculated than 
this to gratify their tafle. When to 
all this, we add the extraordinary 
accommodations and entertainment 
furnifhed at Ballfton, equalling the 
moft unbounded wifh, we cannot 
be furprifed that thefe, like moft 
other celebrated Medicated Springs, 
from having at firft been the re- 
fuge of fuffering humanity, the 
comfortable afylum of the afflidled 
invalid, mould become the feat and 
empire of luxury and diffipation, 
the rallying point of parties of plea- 
fure. "Where one perfon now ap- 
plies there to repair a difordered 
conflitution, twenty go, in the gai- 
ty of health, to fport a found one, 
againft the enervating influence of 
revelry and riot. It is hoped, how- 



82 The Mineral Waters of 

ever, that like the faftiionable refort 
at Spa, the diftant fituation of the 
different Springs from each other, 
will aflift in preventing thofe vota- 
ries of pleafure from finking into 
that ftate of indolence and ina<5ti- 
vity, fo apt to prevail at fuch places 
of public rendezvous. 

The favourable circumftance of. 
the relative fituation of the feveral 
objedls of attention in this neigh- 
bourhood, taken all together, is cer- 
tainly matter for congratulation to 
that clafs of vifitors w hofe chief view 
is to pafs their time agreeably ; for 
befides the fources of amufement 
juft mentioned, other confiderations 
will, in addition, impofe a kind of 
neceffity on many of keeping them- 
felves a&ively engaged. For while 



Saratoga and Ballston. 83 

the fuperior accommodation fixes 
upon Ballflon as the place of dwell- 
ing, the Springs of Saratoga will 
command frequent vifits. For who, 
making the lead pretenfions to the 
character of a virtuofo, would iloop 
to drink of the waters of Ballfton, 
when a few miles ride would treat 
him freely with plenteous draughts 
from the fine ftone vafe y that fu- 
perb piece of nature's unaflifted 
workmanfhip. The more power- 
fully purgative quality of the water 
of the Congrefs Spring, will fecure it 
a repeated call from thofe who re- 
quire its evacuative operations. 
And as to the Lakes, which are in- 
terfperfed in different directions a 
few miles diftant from the Springs, 
no profeffional man can entertain a 



84 The Mineral Waters of 

doubt that the more detergent 
properties of their foft waters? 
will richly reward thofe for their 
trouble, who may vifit them for the 
purpofe of Bathing. 

Duly to attend to all the above 
enumerated objedls, and to im- 
prove them to the beft advantage, 
will require*repeated and varied ex- 
curfions, all which will occupy 
time, and they will occupy it to 
good purpofe ; for hereby, while 
indulging in a pleafurable exercife, 
we are gaining, as far as refpe&s 
our conftitutions, all the advanta- 
ges of labour, and that beguiled of 
its toils. 

" From labour health, from health content- 
ment springs ; 

Contentment opes the source of every joy." 



Saratoga and Ballstoiu 85 

This mode of pafling the time, 
it is true, may chill the mace and 
paralize the balls of the billiard 
board, but it will warm the heart, 
and promote the healthy movement 
of its blood : it may diminifh the 
demand for cards, but it will en- 
hance the value of life. 

"... ut sit mens sana in cot-pore sano" 
" A healthy body and a mind at ease." 

Let us then be upon the alert, 
and by well directed exertions repel 
the approaches of difeafe, and keep 
clear from the favours of the Facul- 
ty : it is affuredly 

" Better to hunt the fields for health unbought 
Than fee the Doctor for a nauseous draught.' 

Having difpenfed thefe whole- 
fome admonitions to the well, we 

H 



86 The Mineral Waters of 

now fhall attend to the more ferious 
calls of the fick, by noticing 

The operation of thefe waters , and the 
difeafes wherein they may be ufeful- 
' ly employed, 

Thefe waters may generally be 
taken in very large quantities with- 
out producing any uneafinefs or 
fenfe of weight in the ftomach ; but 
in fome inftances they caufe a fenfe 
of coldnefs, and fometimes, though 
very rarely, prove emetic. Some 
perfons will drink feveral quarts 
within half an hour, without any 
inconvenience, otherwife than af- 
fecting the bowels two or three 
times, and operating very copioufly 
by the kidneys. They at the fame 



Saratoga and Ballston. 87 

time produce a gentle diaphoresis. 
They however ac5l more particular- 
ly upon the two lafl excretions, 
when taken in fmaller dofes, and 
often repeated, as from half a pint 
to a pint, every third or fourth 
hour. 

Their operation upon the bowels 
may pretty certainly be calculated 
upon, if taken before breakfafh : if 
not taken till afterwards, they more 
generally affec5l the other excre- 
tions. Hence by a little attention 
to the time, and to the quantity ta- 
ken, we are enabled to determine 
their action to fuch parts, as the na- 
ture of the cafe for which they are 
diredled, may require. 

Thefe waters generally exhilarate 
the fpirits, and fometimes produce 



88 The Mineral Waters of 

a very troublefome vertigo. In 
fome perfons they are faid to induce 
a degree of inebriety, fimilar to 
wine. They not unfrequently 
caufe drowfinefs. They increafe 
the appetite, and prove a pleafant 
ftimulus to the ftomach. 

Such are the effe&s of thefe wa- 
ters upon perfons in health; but as 
the medicinal virtues of mineral wa- 
ters mud depend upon the different 
fubftances that they hold in folu- 
tion, fo their application in the cure 
of difeafes muft be directed by a 
knowledge of the qualities of the 
predominating articles in their 
compofition. Inattention to thefe 
confiderations, ftill tends to fup- 
port what former ignorance, as to 
their contents, originally eftablifh- 



Saratoga and Ballston. 89 

ed in refpedt to the ufe of them. 
They had proved efficacious in the 
cure of fome difeafes, but upon 
what principle was unknown. — 
Hence, like mod other remedies 
which gain a degree of reputation 
before their real qualities are 
known, they were looked upon as a 
kind of panacea, a cure for all dif- 
eafes : fo that to be unwell was a 
fufficient reafon for applying to 
them for relief ; they were indifcri- 
minately taken in difeafes of diredl- 
ly oppofite natures : hence inter- 
mittents and hedlic fevers, pleurify, 
dropfies, manias, dyfpepfias, 8cc. all 
equally were found hovering there 
for help. When at the Springs, I 
faw a perfon who had come up- 
wards of three hundred miles to 
H 2 



90 The Mineral Waters of 

drink the waters for the cure of a 
fiftula lachrymalis, and no doubt 
many other poor fufferers have toil- 
ed through difficulties to get there, 
who finally, inftead of meeting with 
a reward for their pains, have, to 
their coft, experienced not only no 
alleviation, but in fome inftances an 
aggravation of their complaints, for 
an univerfal remedy is a perfecl fole- 
cifm. It is an unqueflioned law in 
medicine, that that which poffeffes 
aclive curative powers in one fet of 
difeafes is equally detrimental in others* 
The carbonic acid^ fait and iron 
are the principles upon which we 
fhould chiefly ground our calcula- 
tions in the ufe of thefe waters. 
The alkali may, in fome cafes, have 
its effedls, and in others we may ex- 



Saratoga and Ballston. 91 

pedl fome advantage from the car- 
bonate of lime. In regard to the 
comparative virtues of the waters 
of Saratoga and Ballfton, little need 
now be offered : the former, parti- 
cularly the Congrefs Spring, is 
fomewhat the moft purgative, they . 
however, appear to be compofed of 
very fimilar materials : it may ge- 
nerally, perhaps with propriety, of 
them be faid, that " that which is 
beft adminiftered is beft." 

Of the difeafes for which thefe 
waters are prefcribed, there is pro- 
bably none which will more cer- 
tainly fupport their reputation and 
keep up a round of company, than 
Dyfpepfia. As long as the pamper- 
ings of luxury and the love of eafe 
fhall prevail over fimplicity in diet 



92 The Mineral Waters of 

and an a&ive life, fo long will the 
Springs be reforted to by a train of 
invalids. The change of air and ex- 
ercife neceflarily impofed thereby 
uponthofe who refide in large cities, 
the fruitful nurferies of fuch com- 
plaints, together with the material 
contents of the waters themfelves, 
all feem calculated for relieving 
fuch affedtions. The carbonic acid 
furnifhes the cordial exhilarating 
flimulus, the fait promotes digef- 
tion, while the iron reftores the loft 
tone of the enervated ftomach : at 
the fame time the foda corredls the 
acidity fo often predominating, and 
the whole compofition, when judi- 
cioufly managed, obviates that cof- 
tivenefs, fo frequently an aggrava- 
ting attendant upon them. Hence 



Saratoga and Balhton. 93 

we have every feafon for counting 
upon their falutary operation, and 
experience fully juftifies our calcu- 
late ons. 

Calculous complaints are among 
thofe which apply there in the 
greatefl proportion for relief, nor 
do they apply without reafon ; the 
compolition of the waters being 
fuch as would lead us, a priori, to 
look to them as a remedy. From 
the experiments of Saunders, Perci- 
val and Falconer, we learn, that cal- 
culi, immerfed in water impregna- 
ted with the carbonic acid, were 
diminifhed. Prieftley, Percival and 
others have proved that fixed air, 
as well as alkalies would, when ta- 
ken into the ftomach, pafs through 
the circulation and appear unde- 



94 The Mineral Waters of 

compofed in the urine. Hoffman 
and other German writers fpeak 
highly of the efficacy of the Spa 
and other acidulous waters, both in 
preventing and diflblving the flone. 
Springsfeld obferved that human 
calculi were diminifhed by being 
immerfed in the urine of a perfon 
who drank of the acidulous waters, 
while that of a healthy perfon, not 
drinking of them, added to their 
bulk. 

Egan and Murray have again as- 
certained, that both lime-water and 
the carbonated alkalies deftroyed 
and broke down calculous concre- 
tions out of the body. Ancient 
authority eflablifhes the practical 
utility of the former, while it ap- 
pears by the cafes related by Bed- 



Saratoga and Balkton. 95 

does and other modern practition- 
ers, that the latter have been fuo 
cefsfully employed in relieving 
both gravel and ftone. 

Here then we have in thefe wa- 
ters all the remedies that have pro- 
ved the moll efficacious in fuch af- 
fedtions, viz. A fuperabundant car- 
bonic acid, the carbonate of foda 
and lime. Indeed the benefit experi- 
enced by thofe who have drank of 
them, fully anfwers our expecta- 
tions. A number of cafes have come 
within my own particular know- 
ledge, and Dr. Powell, whofe long 
refidence at the Springs has givei^ 
him a full opportunity of afcertain- 
ing the facft, affures me that they are 
a valuable remedy in gravely and that 
he has rarely feen a cafe of it^ where 
relief was not obtained. 



96 The Mineral Waters of 

The powerfully antifeptic quali- 
ty of the carbonic acid,^ has lately 
been fuccefsfully employed by 
means of the yeaft poultice, in the 
treatment of ill-conditioned Phage- 
denic and gangrenous ulcers : its effi- 
cacy in correcting their putrid na- 
ture, has been fuch in the New- 
York Hofpital, that the furgical 
wards which formerly were diftin- 
guiflied by their peculiar offenfive 
fmell, have, fince the more general 
ufe of this remedy, become as fweet 
and free from noifome fcent as any 
of the other apartments. Befide 
correcting the putrid nature of the 
difcharge from the ulcers, it alfo 
changes their difpofition, favours 
the growth of healthy granula- 
tions, and promotes their healing. 



Saratoga and Ballston. 97 

Now from the eftablifhed falutary 
operation of this predominating 
principle in thefe waters, we can 
have no doubt but that they may 
be a ufeful remedy in fuch com- 
plaints ; and indeed the general re- 
port corroborates that opinion. Dr. 
Powell fays, that in phagedenic ulcers 
the mojl happy effecls may be expecled 
from the ufe of them. 

In Chronic rheumatifms thefe wa- 
ters have been faid to be a remedy, 
particularly when their internal ufe 
has been accompanied by a judici- 
ous application of them as a bath. 
In General relaxations of the fyjlem^ 
either from intemperance, or from 
a long refidence in a hot climate, 
from the effedts of fyphilis, or from 
long and repeated courfes of mer- 



98 The Mineral Waters of 

cury, their conjoined flimulant and 
tonic powers promife to be of fer- 
vice. 

In Chlorofis and other affections 
arifing from debility in the uterine 
fyjiem, fuch mineral waters have 
been fuccefsfully employed ; nor 
need we doubt of their ufefulnefs, 
particularly if their operation is 
fupported by due attention to exer- 
cife and a properly regulated diet. 
From their conjoined purgative, an- 
tifeptic and tonic qualities, they ap- 
pear to be properly formed for the 
cure of Dyfentery. A perfon at the 
Springs, who was taking them for 
this complaint while I was there 
informed me, they had formerly 
cured him of it. 

Cutaneous eruptions frequently 



Saratoga and Ballston. 99 

prove obftinate of cure ; they are 
confequently found in great plenty 
at thefe Springs"; and I am happy 
to add, that they have generally dif- 
appeared by the ufe of the waters : 
for this purpofe they muft be ufed 
externally as well as internally. 
We need not be furprifed that 
thefe waters are fo very ufeful in 
fuch complaints ; (ince they are 
gently diaphoretic, and their ap- 
plication in bathing, befides keep- 
ing the fkin moift, alfo furnifh- 
es an alterative ftimulns by means 
of the fea fait, carbonic acid and 
the fulphureous impregnation 
with which they abound, well cal- 
culated for the purpofe*. The car- 

* I am told that during the Revolutionary 



100 The Mineral Waters of 

bonic acid itfelf, when applied in 
another form, I have repeatedly- 
found an effectual remedy in fome 
obftinate herpetic affections, as the 
pforiafis d'iffufa and in the palmata y or 
what is commonly called the fait 
rheum; a fimple folution of fait 
has alfo fometimes effected a cure. 

Their ufe in hypochondria/is and 
other nervous affeclions^ arifing from 
the indolence and luxury of a city 
life, and confequently a confidera- 
ble diftance from the Springs, per- 
haps depends in a great degree, up- 
on the amufing fcenes, more fimple 
food and conftant exercife, which 



War, while the troops lay at Saratoga, many of 
them were affected with the itch^and were sent 
off in companies to these Springs, bv which 
they were all cured. 



Saratoga and Ballst on. 101 

are unavoidably connected with a 
long journey : and if any advan- 
tage is gained in co?ifumptions from 
their ufe, I rather fuppofe it owing 
to the fame circumftances ; fince 
fixed air has, by thofe who have 
made experiments thereon, general- 
ly been found injurious in fuch af- 
fections. In fad, the common re- 
port condemns thefe waters as pre- 
judicial in phthifical complaints, 
and individual obfervations fup- 
port the popular opinion. 

Thefe waters have alfo been in 
repute for the cure of Dropfy^ and 
from their pofTefling fuch a con- 
joined ftimulating and evacuative 
quality as already mentioned, it ap- 
pears no way improbable but that, 
particularly in the early ftages of 
I 2 



102 The Mineral Waters of 

the diforder, they may promote the 
abforption of the fluid in the cavi- 
ties of the human body, and carry 
it entirely out of the fyftem. 

There are likewife very fatisfac- 
tory accounts of Paralytic affections 
having been cured, or at leaft con- 
iiderably relieved, by the inward 
and outward ufe of the Mineral 
Waters. 

It has alfo been related, upon un- 
doubted teflimony, that fevers and 
agues, or Intermit tents, have fre- 
quently been cured by them. It is 
however faid, to attain that effect, 
that they muft, befide being drank, 
alfb be ufed as a cold bath juft be- 
fore the expected paroxyfm. 

Among the difeafes in which the 
waters may be ufefully employed? 



Saratoga and Ballston. 103 

perhaps there is none of more im- 
portance than Scrofula. It is re- 
markable of this difeafe, that moft 
of the remedies which have gained 
any celebrity in its cure, have been 
compofed in part of the muriatic 
acid. Salt water and fea bathing 
have been recommended from the 
earliefl times, and ftill fupport a de- 
ferving reputation ; of later date, 
the muriate of barytes and the mu- 
riate of lime have had their advo- 
cates ; and perhaps no remedy, as 
an external application, has been 
found more ufeful than the muri- 
ate of mercury ; and as an internal 
remedy, I may fafely fay that I have 
not witnefled any other prepara- 
tion of mercury of more or equal 
efficacy. 



104 The Mineral Waters of 

Befides thefe remedies, general 
flimulants and tonics, as barks 
and chalybeates have very properly 
been prefcribed. Whether the car- 
bonic acid of itfelf, has ever been 
adminiftered, I am not able to fay* 
Marchard however (Dijfcrt. dePyr- 
mont) fays that " the mineral waters 
of Pyrmont) which much abound 
with it, and whence their chief vir- 
tue is probably derived, are employ- 
ed infcrofula with much advantaged 
In the firft edition of this work, not 
then having known thefe waters to 
have been ufed for that purpofe, I 
ventured to fuggeft a trial of them 
in this complaint, confidering that 
from their containing the muriate 
of foda (fea fait) and from their ge- 
neral flimulating and tonic opera- 



Saratoga and Balls ton, 105 

tion upon the fyftem at large ; from 
their promoting the different excre- 
tions, and from their acting parti- 
cularly upon the glandular fyftem, 
they were calculated to be a reme- 
dy. I now have the pleafure to 
add, from the friendly communica- 
tion of Dr. Powell, that " in fcro- 
fula their ufefulnefs is perhaps more 
uniform and extenfive than in any 
other difeafe 'whatever ; and fo nume- 
rous are the injlances he has witneffed 
of their happy effecl therein, that he 
is inclined to believe a well direcled 
courfe of drinking and bathing, in 
thofe who are young, will totally era- 
dicate its taint from the fyjlem" 

Of the ufe of thefe waters in the 
removal of Worms, little, from expe- 
rience, can be faid. Sulphureous 



106 The Mineral Waters of 

waters have long fupported a repu- 
tation as anthelmintics, particu- 
larly in cafes of afcarides ; but I do 
not know that the acidulous waters, 
fuch as thofe under confideration, 
have ever had a trial as a vermi- 
fuge. Were we, however, to rea- 
fon from the known deleterious ef- 
fects of the carbonic acid upon ani- 
mal life, when applied io as to af- 
fect the organs of refpiration, we 
fliould naturally conclude them to 
be a moil powerful remedy for that 
purpofe. 

From the experiment related in 
page 62, it appears that nfh can live 
but a very little time in thefe wa- 
ters. To determine their efFedls 
more particularly upon the life of 
worms, the common earth worms 



Saratoga and Ballston. 107 

were fubje&ed to the following ex- 
periments : fome were fufpended 
in carbonic acid gas, which produ- 
ced immediate agitation and con- 
tortion of their bodies ; this foon 
fubfided, and in the courfe of from 
two to three minutes they became 
perfectly relaxed and motionlefs. 
Others were immerfed in water ^ 
impregnated with the carbonic 
acid, they inftantly moved about 
very brifkly, but in two minutes 
became entirely motionlefs and ap- 
parently dead. Thefe experiments 
were frequently repeated, and with 
fimilar refults. Other worms were 
immerfed in an Artificial Saratoga 
Mineral Water, with like effedls. 

Now as thefe worms are fo fimi- 
lar to thofe that molt generally exift 



108 The Mineral Waters of, 

in the human ftomach, it is no 
more than fair to conclude, that 
they alfo would be equally affe&ed 
by the fame means. 

Hence then, as the whole alimen- 
tary canal may be fafely inundated 
with thefe waters, is it not highly 
probable that they will prove a 
complete remedy in fuch affec- 
tions ? It muft be obferved, how- 
ever, that in thefe experiments, the 
worms when fubje&ed for fo fhort 
a time only, to the operation of this 
deleterious acid, recovered in a few 
minutes after being reftored to the 
atmofpheric air : but a reftoration 
to pure air could not be effected in 
the bowels ; particularly when un- 
der the free ufe of thefe waters ; for 
then they muft be conftantly expo- 



Saratoga and Ballston. 109 

fed to the carbonic acid, until they 
would be diflodged and carried 
out of the body. With this view 
then the waters fhould be taken in 
large draughts and upon an empty 
ftomach, to fecure their purgative 
operation. 

Notwitliftanding worms will re- 
vive after having been expofed for 
only a few minutes to the operation 
of the carbonic acid, either in its 
gafeous flate or when united with 
water, (till it will, upon a longer 
expofure, effectually kill them. By 
fufpending fome of them in the air, 
^nd by immerfing others in the 
water impregnated with it, they di- 
ed irrecoverably in lefs than two 
hours. 

Should thefe waters not ad: fuf- 

K 



110 The Mineral Waters of 

ficiently upon the bowels, they may 
be accompanied with fome aloetic 
or other fuitable purgative medi- 
cine. I have known an inftance 
where the Mineral Water of Bed- 
ford, in Pennfylvania, diflodged 
and brought away a confiderable 
portion of a tinea or tape worm : 
its expulfion was finally completed 
by taking the male fern and purga- 
tives. 

Would not injections of Ample 
carbonated acidulous water, con- 
joined with a little laudanum to fe- 
cure their retention for a time in the 
bowels, route the peftering little af- 
carides or thread worms from the 
rectum, where they fo often obfli- 
nately refill almofl every means 
ufually employed to remove them ? 



Saratoga and Balfston. Ill 

I have frequently prefcribed decoc- 
tions of the fpigelia, ( Carolina 
pink) in that manner, in fuch in- 
ftances with fuccefs. The acidu- 
lous waters are certainly much 
more immediately deftrudlive to 
the living power of worms. 

All thefe obfervations apply par- 
ticularly to the acidulous Springs. 
The fulphur water ', I imagine, may 
be more ufefully applied in cutane- 
ous eruptions^ particularly the itch ; 
however I do not know of any trials 
having yet been made with it in 
any complaint. 

A conjeclure upon the mariner of the 
natural formation of thefe Waters, 

The manner by which thefe wa- 



112 The Mineral Waters of 

ters become charged with their 
iron, lime, fait, and alkali, hardly 
needs an explanation. As all thefe 
fubftances exift ready formed in the 
bowels of the earth, and water af- 
ter being loaded with the carbonic 
acid, cannot pafs over them without 
taking up a part ; but the manner 
in which it gains this aerial impreg- 
nation, as the carbonic acid does 
not naturally exift in an uncombi- 
ned ftate in the earth, is not fo eafi- 
ly accounted for. The carbonic 
acid is extricated from its combina- 
tions, in the large way, by three dif- 
ferent procefles, viz. by fermenta- 
tion, by the adlion of a ftronger 
acid, and by heat : the firft method 
cannot operate in this inftance, the 
fecond may have its effects : let us 



Saratoga and Ballston. 113 

try how far it will explain the fub- 
jedt in queflion. 

Suppofe this water firft contain- 
ing a marine acid, mould have paffi- 
ed over a quantity of carbonate of 
foda ; here the acid contained in 
ten pounds of it, would unite with 
73 grs. of pure alkali, which con- 
tained and accordingly would dis- 
charge 58 grs. equal 116 fquare 
inches of this acid. Now the wa- 
ter is fuppofed to contain at lead as 
much as twice that quantity ; hence 
we fee the mofl favourable ftate- 
ment of this mode, will not account 
even for the quantity of air actual- 
ly exifting as a component part of 
the water, much lefs for the grea t 
fuper-abundance which continuaL 
ly bubbles up through it, and is 
K 2 



114 The Mineral Waters of 

difcharged. We can hardly fup- 
pofe the fulphuric acid to act on 
calcarious earth, and difcharge this 
air, whereby the water might be- 
come impregnated before it was 
charged with fea fait and alkali ; or 
elfe we mould have detedled fome 
glauber fait, (fulphate of foda) in 
the waters, as they would at the 
time they received their air, alfb 
unavoidably become faturated with 
gypfum, which upon coming in 
contacl with the alkali, would have 
been decompofed thereby, and for- 
med this fait. 

We therefore conclude, that this 
air is produced by fubterranean 
heat acting on calcarious earth or 
lime-flone, thereby fetting it at li- 
berty in this great profulion ; iri- 



Saratoga and Ballston. 115 

deed the deep caverns opening on 
the lime-flone bank before men- 
tioned, gives fome plaufibility to 
this opinion, for it clearly evinces 
that fome considerable operations 
mufl be going forward in the earth 
below. The coldnefs of the waters 
may be objected againft this con- 
jecture ; but this may be obviated 
by considering, that even if they do 
not come any great diftance after 
their aerial impregnation, yet they 
may have afterwards met with their 
falts, which, as is the cafe with all 
fub fiances going from the folid to 
the fluid ftate,would abforb a confl- 
derable quantity of heat, during 
their difTolution, and thereby pro- 
duce the coldnefs in queftion. — 
Should any one fuppofe that this 



116 The Mineral Waters of 

caufe is not adequate to the pro- 
duction of the coldnefs of thefe wa- 
ters, they are at liberty to confider 
them as having been aerated at a 
greater diftance from the Springs 
than is fuggefled. The above ob- 
fervations, however, will not per- 
mit them to fufpe6t but that the air 
they contain mufl moft probably 
have been evolved from its combi- 
nation by fubterranean fire. The 
temperature of the Waters of New 
Lebanon*, which is within about 
50 miles, proves the exiflence of 

* From my own experiments and observa- 
tions, and from those of my friends Professors 
Mitchill, Waterhouse and Post, all of whom 
have visited and made experiments upon the 
Water of this Pool, it appears to be a pure 
Thermal Water, very similar to those of Mat- 
lock and Buxton, in England; only that its 
temperature, which is 72° by Farenheit's scale, 



Saratoga and Ballston. 117 

iubterranean heat about this coun- 
try. 

By the waters running over a bed 
of fulphur, their alkali may form a 

is about 4 degrees higher than that at Matlock, 
but not quite as warm as the Buxton Waters. 

The Water of this Pool is transparent. 
It has a constant ebullition of air bubbles pass- 
ing through it. 

This air appears to be the common azotie 
gas. It will neither burn itself nor support 
the combustion of inflammable substances. It 
does not render lime-water turbid, by being 
made to pass through it : nor does it communi- 
cate any effect to water, unfavourable to the 
life of animals immersed in it : frogs are found 
voluntarily swimming in the pool. 

The water, when drank, produces no other 
effect than that of common spring or river wa- 
ter. It contains no iron or lime nor any other 
metallic or earthy matter : hence its transpa- 
rency is not affected either by Prussian alkali, 
tincture of galls, carbonated alkali, or the acid 
of sugar. It does not effervesce with the sul- 
phuric acid, nor does it change the colour of 
gold, silver, copper or lead. It neither curdles 
milk nor soap : it lathers and washes well. 



118 The Mineral Waters of 

hepar with this mineral, the gas 
difcharged from which, gives them 
their fulphureous impregnation. 

This water, however, precipitates the solution 
of corrosive sublimate (the muriate of mercu- 
ry) of a yellow colour : it forms also a white 
precipitate with the acetite of lead : hence it 
probably contains a small proportion of some 
alkaline matter, but in such a very small quan- 
tity as not to unfit it for culinary purposes. 

Let it not be inferred from these observa- 
tions, that this water can be of no use in a me- 
dical point of view. No one can doubt but 
that free ablutions with pure warm water, both 
internally and in bathing, may produce saluta- 
ry effects; particularly in cutaneous eruptions, 
and in cases where the system has been loaded 
with peccant humours, and also where irregu- 
lar action in an irritable habit, has been aggra- 
vated by draughts of a more stimulating na-- 
ture. 



Saratoga and Ballston. 119 

A method of making an Artificial Mi- 
neral Water ', refembling in every re- 
fpecl that of Saratoga. 

One great advantage refulting 
from the analyfis of Mineral Wa- 
ters is, the being enabled thereby to 
make Artificial Waters fimilar to 
them, whence all their virtues may 
be obtained at pleafure, and at any 
place, without the inconvenience or 
expence of attending at the Springs. 
There are fome mineral waters, that 
from the fixed nature of their in- 
gredients, may be kept for a confi- 
derable time and tranfported from 
place to place, without fuffering 
much, if any, alteration in their na- 
ture : as for inflance, thofe of Ep- 
fom, Richmond, Swanfey, and the 



120 The Mineral Waters of 

like ; while others, as thofe of Pyr- 
mont, Seltzer, Saratoga, &c. not- 
withftanding our greatefl care, can 
be kept but a fhort time, and con- 
fequently cannot be conveyed to 
any great diftance, without loling 
in a confiderable degree their me- 
dicinal qualities : for befides the 
cretaceous acid, which from its vo- 
latile nature flies off, the iron that 
was kept in folution thereby, is al- 
fo depofited ; whence they muft 
lofe the moft a&ive and eflential 
parts of their compofition. There- 
fore if any one would have thefe 
waters at a diftance from the 
fprings, it is art alone that can fup- 
ply him. The manner in which I 
prepared a water refembling the 
Saratoga waters, was as follows : — ■ 



Saratoga and Ballston.* 121 

To a gallon of fimple water in 
Nooth's apparatus, I added fome 
pieces of marble, (carbonate of 
lime) 138.4 grs. common fait, and 
20.8 of carbonated foda; that quan- 
tity being juft the proportion ob- 
tained from the Mineral Water. I 
alfo fufpended in it fome rufl of 
iron, tied up in a linen rag. I then 
caufed the air that was difcharged 
from powdered lime-flone, by a di- 
luted vitriolic acid, to pafs through 
the water above mentioned, till it 
appeared to be fully faturated. To 
this water was added fome coarfely 
powdered fulphur, which after 
flanding awhile was decanted ofE 

This liquor was now acknow- 
ledged by feveral perfons who had 



122 The Mineral Waters of, &c. 

drank of the Saratoga Waters, per- 
fectly to refemble them in tafle. 

Moll of the re-agents ufed on the 
natural waters, were repeated on 
thefe, and with like effedts. Here 
then is a clear proof of the fuccefs 
of the analyfis ; for fynthefis, or the 
re-compofition of a fubftance, with 
fimilar ingredients to what were 
obtained from it, is the fureft evi- 
dence of the correcflnefs of an ana- 
lyfis. 

Notwithftanding I have not had 
an opportunity of trying the effedls 
of this water in many difeafes, yet 
it being compofed of the fame in- 
gredients as the natural waters, 
leaves no doubt but that it mud 
po-flefs the fame medicinal virtues. 



CONSIDERATIONS 
UPON THE USE 

OF 

ARTIFICIAL MINERAL 
WATERS 

AS PREPARED IN THIS CITY : 

Both as a Remedy in Diseases and as 
an Ordinary Drink. 

SlNCE the firft publication of this 
account of the Waters of Saratoga, 
and of making Artificial Waters fi- 
milar to them, a number of Artifi- 
cial Fountains have been eftablifh- 
ed in this city, furnifhing a plenti- 
ful fupply of thefe and feveral other 
Mineral Waters ; and they appear, 
as far as the tafte can difcover, (for 



124 The Mineral Waters of 

I have not analyfed them) to be to- 
lerably well imitated. 

As a Remedy in Diseases can 
we calculate as much upon them as 
upon the Natural Waters at the 
Springs ? In calculous complaints I fee 
no reafon why we may'not ; indeed 
upon fome confiderations I mould 
prefer them : our citizens may take 
them without being expofed to the 
injurious jolting of a jaunt to Sara- 
toga ; they may be accommodated 
comfortably in the quiet of home, 
in the bofom of their friends, and 
may have the different materials in 
the waters varied, as their com- 
plaints may require*. As a vermi- 

* It is presumed however, that if any vari- 
ation should be made in the composition of the 
water, so as to meet the particular complaints 



Saratoga and Balhton. 125 

fuge we may look for as much ad- 
vantage from the artificial as from 
the natural mineral waters 5 and as 
in this inftance it is upon the car- 
bonic acid in them, that we chiefly 
reft our hopes, perhaps the artificial 
waters may here alfo be entitled to 
a preference. Certainly, by means 
of pf effure, a much greater propor- 
tion of this acid may be made to 
combine with water, than the natu- 
ral mineral waters contain. 

In fome other complaints they 
may be of equal efficacy with the 

of individuals, that that variation will be made 
known to those who may take it. It would 
be an unwarrantable imposition to dispense an 
Artificial Mineral Water, under the name of 
an Established Natural Water, unless it be as 
nearlv like it, as the composer's art would en- 
able him to make. 

L 2 



126 The Mineral Waters of 

natural waters ; but in cafes where 
general bathing in them becomes 
neceflary, the artificial waters muft 
be out of the queftion. 

That they may be ufefully taken 
in Dyfpepfia there can be but little 
doubt ; but we fhould recollect 
what has been before obferved un- 
der that article, that the adv ■} A tage 
to be gained, depends in confidera- 
ble degree upon the exercife and 
change of air, incumbent upon a vi- 
fit to the Springs. Hence then this 
clafs of invalids ought not to be 
difappointed, if they mould not be 
as much benefited by the artificial, 
as they may have had reafon to be- 
lieve that they would be, by the na- 
tural waters at Saratoga. 
In Scrofulous affeclions, bathing and 



Saratoga and Ballston. 127 

the exercife, change of air, &c. at- 
tendant upon an excurfion to Ballf- 
ton, are of material confequence : 
drinking the waters, of itfelf, will 
have its ufe ; but Scrofula is not 
a trifling complaint, eafily to be 
managed ; it requires the united 
operation of a variety of means to 
remove it. 

As an Ordinary Drink, thefe 
waters hav? become very fafhion- 
able, and as 

44 Fashion in every thing bears solemn sway, 

And founts and public haunts have each their 
day," 

fo they mofl probably will, for a 
time, continue to be the favourite 
beverage of the feafon ; but whe- 
ther judicioufly fo, or not, remains 
to be determined. 



128 The Mineral Waters of 

From obfervations delivered in 
the foregoing pages, it would ap- 
pear that the Waters of Saratoga 
and Ballfton poffefs adiive medicinal 
qualities, oftentimes very ufefully 
employed, not for them that be whole 
who need not a phyfician^ (no medi- 
cines) but for them that are fick. If 
they are adlive medicines, they 
muft be unfit, as an ordinary drink, 
for perfons in health. Ncverthe- 
lefs, if from a multitude of evils we 
were forced to make a choice, I 
fhould not hefitate in giving them 
a preference to many of the beve- 
rages too frequently indulged in 
during the heat of fummer, in this 
city, as brandy and water, lemon- 
ade, lime punch, &c. I believe the 
carbonic acid to be much more 






Saratoga and Ballston. 129 



grateful and bracing to the ftomach 
than the citric. Were I to recom- 
mend any Mineral Water as a com- 
mon drink, it would not be the 
Ballfton, the Soda nor the Seltzer* 
but the fimply carbonated^ i. e. wa- 
ter impregnated with fixed air 
alone, uncombined with any faline, 
earthy or metallic matter whatever. 
We can hardly believe that that 
which the ftomach loathes, and the 
palate rejects with difguft, can be 
proper for perfons in health : all 
alkalies are naufeous, and it is not 
improbable but that they may in- 
tercept, by their decompounding 
chemical powers, the important 
procefs of digeftion. It is very true 
that the alkaline tafte of the foda 
water is very much covered by itfi 



130 The Mineral Waters of 

fuperfaturation with the carbonic 
acid, and becomes thereby recon- 
ciled to the palate , and thus pafles 
by this garde-du-corps, unexamin- 
ed, into the ftomach : but an ene- 
my in the citadel, is none the lefs fo 
for having gained admittance in 
difguife. Sweetening a potion does 
not deftroy its power. 

The carbonic acid, however, 
feems free from all thefe objec- 
tions : it is found in greater or lefs 
proportions in moft of the ordinary 
fpring and well waters, and is what 
chiefly conftitutes their life and 
brifknefs : water faturated with it, 
is grateful to the palate and pleafant 
upon the ftomach : the weaknefs 
of its chemical affinities, leaves not 
much to apprehend from its de- 



Saratoga and Balls ton. 131 

ranging the affimilating operations 
of digeftion : it is cordial, antifep- 
tic and exhilarating. 

There is, however, a clafs of the 
community, for whom I feel a near 
fympathifing intereft, who cannot 
too cautioufly avoid having any 
thing to do with this or either of 
the other of thefe waters : I mean 
thofe of weak lungs, thofe who are 
confumptively difpofed : the uni- 
form opinion of phyficians, con- 
curring with general obfervations, 
has been fully confirmed by my 
own perfonal experience, that fuch 
drinks are highly prejudicial to per- 
fons of this defcription. 



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